US-based Northwell Health has received approval from the New York State Department of Health (DOH) to establish Long Island’s first adult pancreas transplant programme.

The Northwell Transplant Institute at North Shore University Hospital (NSUH) completed a site visit with DOH officials, which marked the final step before beginning to accept new patients.

The new pancreas transplant initiative will serve patients across the greater New York region and southern Connecticut through several ambulatory sites.

NSUH, which has 756 licensed beds and treats more than 90,000 patients per year, is now among 59 adult transplant centres in the US to offer liver, kidney, heart, pancreas, and lung transplants in one location, as reported by the US Department of Health & Human Services.

Northwell began adult kidney transplants at NSUH in 2007 and added a paediatric kidney transplant programme at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in 2017.

Northwell’s Center for Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation director Niraj Desai joined in 2024 to oversee kidney transplant operations and to initiate the pancreas programme.

The company stated that a pancreas transplant can help patients with advanced, hard-to-manage Type 1 or, in some cases, Type 2 diabetes. It is often performed with a kidney transplant to restore blood sugar control and reduce or eliminate insulin dependency, potentially improving quality of life.

Northwell’s transplant teams deliver care at North Shore University Hospital, Cohen Children’s Medical Center, and through an extensive ambulatory network.

In October 2025, Northwell Health implemented the ambient AI platform of Abridge across its 28 hospitals to enhance the clinical documentation of patient conversations as part of its digital transformation strategy.